Archive for the 'Rape and Sexual Assault' Category
“My mother was surprised that my breasts were getting bigger, and told me to go to the clinic to take a pregnancy test. The nurses told me I was pregnant and so I cried. I cried because I thought I was too young to have a baby and I thought I wouldn’t manage.”
Asanda*, from a [...]
Government Should Enforce Its ‘Zero-Tolerance’ Policy on Sexual Violence
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo should urgently investigate and prosecute senior army officials allegedly involved or complicit in rampant sexual crimes against women and girls, as part of its efforts to combat sexual violence, Human Rights Watch said in a [...]
Police in Angola, one of Africa’s biggest oil producers, are struggling to contain a surge in gang-related crime and rape cases in a nation where the majority of the population is young and poor, a senior police official was quoted as saying.
“What has worried us is that lately crimes have become repulsive, violent. We are [...]
Afghanistan’s Justice Ministry released a revision of the controversial Shia law that legalized rape within marriage, among other provisions. The Associated Press reports that the new version omits original provisions that allowed men to demand sex from their wives and that required women to ask their husbands’ permission to leave their home.
The law sparked international [...]
Rapists in Afghanistan too often get away with their crime, whilst rape victims lack access to justice and experience stigma and shame, according to a report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
“In some areas, alleged or convicted rapists are, or have links to, powerful commanders, members of illegal armed [...]
The Wellington Sexual Abuse Network (WSAN), a.k.a. the joined forces of Wellington Rape Crisis, Wellington Sexual Abuse HELP and WellStop vote ‘Yes’ have a plan to prevent sexual violence among young people.
WSAN, with support from the Ministry of Justice, will pilot a revolutionary six-week Sex & Ethics programme at Victoria University over the next [...]
Calls to the rape crisis line have more than doubled as courageous victims taking on their attackers and winning have helped remove the stigma attached to sex assault.
But disturbingly, new figures show that up to four women a week are being gang raped.
Brave young women like Tegan Wagner – who gave up her right to [...]
Annual report of Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel sheds light on phenomenon of sexual assault in workplace. Number of complaints on harassment at work rises by 12% in 2008
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel will submit its annual report to the Knesset on Monday morning, this time focusing on a [...]
In keeping with increasing instances of sexual misconduct by men in uniform and in positions of authority, the National Commission for Women (NCW) is pushing for a radical overhaul of laws on crimes against women, including the anti-rape law, to make punishment more stringent.
The NCW is seeking higher punishment for policemen, public servants and [...]
The heads of women’s organizations across the political spectrum joined forces in a letter to Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, protesting her appointment of outgoing MK Haim Ramon as chairman of the party’s governing council.
Ramon submitted his resignation from the parliament, after 26 years of service, to Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin. His resignation takes effect [...]
Janey (not her real name) was 19 when she fell “head over heels” for a guy six years her senior. He moved in just weeks after their first date, which was before she learned about the cheating. When she confronted him, repeatedly, he raped her, repeatedly. When she told him to move out, he threatened [...]
One in four men in South Africa have admitted to rape and many confess to attacking more than one victim, according to a study that exposes the country’s endemic culture of sexual violence.
Three out of four rapists first attacked while still in their teens, the study found. One in 20 men said they had [...]
The United Nations Security Council is failing to make good on its promises to stop rape in war, Human Rights Watch said today. The council should immediately create a high-level coordinator for efforts to prevent and punish sexual violence in conflict, the organization said.
On June 19, 2008, the Security Council adopted the ground-breaking resolution 1820, [...]
A woman submitted to a rape kit exam in July 2008 at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital after a husky stranger allegedly dragged her to the ground and sexually assaulted her, biting her on the neck and ears, according to police reports.
Nearly one year later, the kit with its potential DNA evidence sits in storage at [...]
Taking a Deep Look At Why Women Are Vulnerable to HIV/AIDS
Think again about the face of HIV/AIDS today. So much has changed about the virus since the media reported in the early 1980s on an outbreak of a rare form of cancer among gay men in New York and California.
A new book edited by [...]
A three-year-old girl has died after being raped by a rebel fighter in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where armed forces are committing increasing numbers of sexual attacks, a United Nations spokeswoman said on Friday.
Three of the infant victim’s sisters, aged 12, 14 and 17, were also raped by combatants in the South Kivu region, [...]
Talk openly about rape. That is the gist of a new campaign in Cameroon, where according to a study an estimated 432,000 women and girls have been raped in the past 20 years.
Some 200 rape survivors gathered on 28 May in the capital Yaoundé, several of the women and girls telling their stories during the [...]
The Los Angeles City Council voted Monday to approve funds to test the city’s enormous backlog of untested rape kits. Once the mayor approves the budget that authorizes these funds, up to 26 additional employees could be hired to process the kits and some testing could be outsourced to private labs, according to Human Rights [...]
‘My husband rapes me repeatedly. I asked the ulama (religious leader) for help, but he sided with him, saying that according to Islam, a woman has to obey her husband. I have nowhere else to go. I have no tears left to shed. I no longer scream.’
It was while recording stories like this that staff [...]
Akina Mama wa Afrika has launched a programme targeting sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Increased cases of rape and sexual abuse of women and girls is closely associated with armed conflict and its aftermath in Africa.
“Rape has been used as a weapon of war by militia, and this hurts women forever, because even in [...]
Recent postings- Murder of human rights activist Natalia Estemirova condemned
- Three publications from AWID’s Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms
- Rabbanit? Rabbah? Maybe just plain Rabbi? What should be the title of an Orthodox woman who happens to also be a rabbi?
- Inquiry urged after Sudan women flogged for wearing trousers
- Accountability To Women Could Upset Business As Usual
- Fight Sexism to Help Young Mothers – South Africa
- Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who Condone: Sexual Violence and Military Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Worrying increase in gang rape say police in Angola
- Repatriation of Rwandan Women Refugees in Uganda could increase hardships
- HRW condemns Rwanda’s draft law on HIV tests and sterilisation
- Gender Wire
- Q&A: Defending Women's Rights Under New Land Policy
- RIGHTS-UGANDA : Women Press for Domestic Violence Bill
- AFRICA: Organic Farming Could be Answer to Food Insecurity
- EDUCATION: Mother Tongue Absent in Thousands of Classrooms
- Q&A: 'Farmers Can Gain From Crisis'
- DR-CONGO: Rape by Regular Army a Growing Problem, HRW Says
- PERU: Going to School Still a Feat for Rural Girls
- CUBA: What Schools Can and Cannot Do for Equality
- FILM: Graphically Condemning a "Barbaric and Horrific Punishment"
- ECONOMY: Accountability To Women Could Upset Business-As-Usual
- new on womensgrid
- Sense of Self – A weekly support group for women focusing on enhancing self-esteem and self-confidence! 20th July 2009
- Dogs Trust seeks dog foster carers to help women fleeing domestic violence
- Soroptimists give £500,000 and three houses to charity in Gravesend
- A report into the death of Baby P has revealed that only half of NHS staff have the required levels of training in child protection
- One in four in custody in Glasgow held for domestic abuse
- Royal Assent for Sexual Offences Bill Scotland
- Unionists and nationalists have joined forces to round on English politicians who called for abortion laws to be extended to Northern Ireland
- Human rights court will hear Irish abortion ban case
- Teenagers who are raped leave school at earlier age study in Ireland finds
- Two boys who raped a 14-year-old for insulting their gang leader’s partner have had their sentences upheld
- new on women in london
- 4 vacancies - Refuge - 28th July 2009
- Female Community Outreach Officer - Kiran - 14th August 2009
- Volunteer Co-ordinator - Jewish Women’s Aid - 10th August 2009
- 2 vacancies - Eaves - 17th and 22nd July 2009
- Public investment in childcare : who cares, who pays? - Daycare Trust - 17th November 2009
- Feminism in London - conference organised by London Feminist Network - 10th October 2009
- GLDVP Newsletter - July 2009
- GLDVP Stella Project advanced training for experienced workers - 6th August and 8th September 2009
- Being a mum has ‘devastating’ impact on earnings - new report - Fawcett
- The GLDVP response to: The Way Forward – A call for action to end violence against women
